Talking their language

A project to create a high-quality meeting room and classroom within the new upper school of the École Jeannine Manuel School in London has been completed using the fire resistant, timber frame glazing system Promat SystemglasLigna.

The school, which is a co-educational, French bilingual, international school for 3-18-year-olds, was established in 2015. Its new upper school occupies a Georgian building facing onto Russell Square, so any development work within the school has to balance the preservation of period architecture with the provision of high quality facilities.

The latest project has created a meeting room and split an existing room to create a corridor and new classroom. By using the SystemglasLigna butt-jointed glazed partitioning system, in combination with timber doorsets, the right aesthetic and performance balance could be achieved, in combination with assured EI30 fire protection and 39db acoustic insulation to help reduce unwanted noise disturbance.

It was important for the client that 30 minutes fire safety could be assured with no ambiguity, and that the design of the glazed partitions complemented the existing décor. This included the creation of a glazed screen with an integral door spanning 3.8m.

In conjunction with Promat Systemglas approved installer PGS Glass, a partition and doorset was developed using the SystemglasLigna fire resistant glazing system. Designed by Promat UK, a global leader in passive fire protection products, Ligna is one of a family of products that have been tested (Certifire CF5452) to provide integrity and insulation (EI) fire protection from 30 minutes up to 60 minutes (EI30 to EI60).

SystemglasLigna’s exact configuration of fire rated glass and components, including beading and setting blocks, is manufactured in house and is provided to installers that are fully supported by Promat UK throughout the installation stage.

Promat UK provides a 360° ‘Wheel of Assurance’ to clients, which includes a certificate of conformity for installation, confirming that the glazing system has been installed correctly with no weaknesses in its ability to provide passive fire protection for the required timeframe.